The Skagway girls then had a tough outing in its semifinal game against Kake. After taking an early 6-4 lead, Skagway went into a scoring drought for about 8 minutes while the T-Birds built a 9-point lead at halftime and never looked back. Final score was Kake 43, Skagway 30. The Lady Panthers now enter the consolation round with hopes of battling back to the second place game on Saturday. But they have to get by Angoon first on Friday.

Panther girls hold on to beat Angoon 40-31 to advance to Saturday’s consolation semifinal. Angoon battles Skagway all the way cutting an 11-point Skagway lead down to 2 twice down the stretch but Panthers get some key defensive stops and big free throws in final two minutes to pull away. Skagway will face Hydaburg Saturday at 11:15 am for right to play in consolation final that night.

Lady Panthers advance to consolation final with thrilling 49-46 win over Hydaburg. Skagway led early by as many as 8 but shut down in the third quarter as the Warriors outscored the Panthers 17-4 to take a 10 point lead into the final quarter. But Skagway has a huge run of its own and tied the score 3 times before finally getting the lead in the final 35 seconds and then sealing it at the free throw line. Up next Saturday night is Kake in the tourney finale, a rematch of Thursday’s semifinal. Kake lost in the championship by 1 to Klawock Friday night. Skagway will be aiming for second place and a state tourney berth.

Skagway Panther girls fall in tourney finale 40-30 against Kake to finish 3rd in the region. The game was back-and-forth in the first half, seeing four lead changes as Kake took a 25-24 lead at the break. But Skagway had trouble generating any offense in the second half as the T-birds turned Panther turnover into points. They built a 10-point lead and held on to that margin the rest of the way to claim second place and a trip to State Tourney. These two teams very well could be in the championship next year. The only senior on either squad was Skagway’s Maddy Cox, who led the Panther scoring in her final game.

Panther boys comeback falls short vs Hydaburg, 43-35. Skagway got off to slow start and fell behind by as many as 18 in first half, but slowly battled back in second half. Skagway finally got some 3- pointers to fall in the 4th quarter and cut the lead to 5 with about 2 minutes left in the game. But some missed opportunities down the stretch forced Skagway to foul and put the Warriors on the line, where they converted enough free throws to hold off the Panthers.

The Skagway boys played a great first half against Hoonah, holding a 1-point lead at halftime, but the shots just would not fall for the Panthers in the second half. Hoonah was able to pull out a 42-32 win, ending the season for the Skagway boys. The boys lose a couple of key seniors, Wyatt Belisle and Danny Brady, but have a good group of young players returning next year.